Harps Food Stores Sells and Leases Back 13 Stores
Harps Food Stores Inc. has wrapped up a sale-leaseback deal involving 13 grocery stores for $30.1 million, according to a published account.
All of the locations are in Arkansas and Missouri and account for a collective 459,525 square feet, the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal reported. The sites were sold to Princeton, New Jersey-based Essential Properties, subject to new, long-term net leases with Harps and will continue to operate under such Harps-operated banners as Harps Food Stores and 10Box. The sale won’t have an impact on store operations.
Dallas-based commercial real estate firm CBRE, which brokered the deal, has assisted Harps in sale-leaseback transactions worth $110 million since 2015.
“Harps is employee-owned, and we manage our balance sheet to maximize value for our shareholder-employees,” noted J. Max Van Hoose, EVP of Springdale, Arkansas-based Harps Food Stores. “Working alongside CBRE, the sale-leaseback transaction has been a very effective tool to unlock capital for more efficient uses, including store expansion, as well as to secure long-term low occupancy costs, which leads to higher profitability.”
Harps Food Stores operates 113 supermarkets in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. The company is the largest employee-owned company based in Arkansas and the 20th largest in the United States.
